However, ESPN has been told Liverpool have not had an approach from Monaco, and want to keep Agger, who was targeted by Manchester City last summer before signing a four-year deal to stay at Anfield.

Manager Brendan Rodgers is looking to strengthen in central defence following the retirement of Jamie Carragher, and has already brought in Kolo Toure on a free transfer from City, with Schalke's Greece international Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Sporting's Tiago Ilori also on his list of targets.

There are doubts over the long-term Liverpool futures of fellow central defenders Martin Skrtel and Sebastian Coates, but Rodgers has given every indication that he wants to retain Agger.

Monaco have already spent more than £100 million on players since reclaiming a place in France's top flight by winning the Ligue 2 title in May. Ranieri has brought in striker Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid, midfielders Joao Moutinho and James Rodriguez from Porto and centre-back Ricardo Carvalho from Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have confirmed they will face Celtic in a friendly at Dublin's Aviva Stadium on August 10.

It is the sixth pre-season game to be organised for Rodgers' side, who face a three-match tour of the Far East in July.

They will face an Indonesia XI in Jakarta on July 20, then take on Australian A-League outfit Melbourne Victory at the Melbourne Cricket Ground four days later, before playing Thailand in Bangkok on July 28.

Liverpool will then host Olympiakos at Anfield for Steven Gerrard's testimonial on August 3, before travelling to Oslo to face Norwegian side Valerenga four days later.

After enduring a tricky start to his Manchester United career, perhaps it is fair that Marcos Rojo celebrated so boisterously as he watched his first professional club Estudiantes beat fierce rivals Gimnasia